For most of my over one half century of life, I’ve had the privilege of loving, living, and working with dogs. They are the joy of my existence. Maybe you feel the same way too. There are few things more beautiful than watching a dog do what he was born to do- whether that be [...]
Meet my friend Martin. He’s as sweet as he looks. Martin is tall for a greyhound, measuring 31.5 inches at the withers (shoulder blades). He’s tired in this picture as he’d just finished racing. Massachusetts law 205 CMR 12.04: The Humane Handling, Care, Treatment, And Transportation Of Racing Greyhounds states: “The shape and size [...]
After two most interesting public debates the zealots have added another page of their own special brand of fuzzy facts to their website. Warning: their spin may make you dizzy. THEY CLAIM THIS IS FALSE: “Massachusetts greyhound racing achieves 100% adoption rate” THEIR FACTS: According to the State Racing Commission, the actual adoption rate is [...]
In a recently released highly-touted video pseudo-expose′, the animal rights extremists displayed footage of alleged mass maimings occurring during racing at Massachusetts tracks. Yes, injuries can and do occur but according to the Massachusetts State Racing Commission’s official records (in the six years in which these records were kept from 2002 to 2007) in 465,176 individual [...]
Who I am is not important; I’m someone just like you. What makes me different from many is that I have sought to understand the facts about greyhound racing in Massachusetts and will herein try to separate the truth from the anti-racing zealots’ propaganda. I am but one small voice- but a voice nonetheless. And here [...]
There is a haunting beauty in the tonal quality and repertoire of the greyhound voice. From the song of a lone hound breaking the momentary silence with a howl somewhere within the compound in the early evening to the rising chorus of hundreds of voices at dawn as the kennels start their day, there is always a bit [...]
Weekends are an exhausting time for the trainers and kennel workers at Raynham as the track offers two racing sessions (cards) on Friday and Saturday evenings in addition to the normal afternoon racing. The schedule for the dogs changes little except for those who will race in the evenings. Evening racers are benched in the morning [...]
Ask ten trainers what they feed their dogs and you will get ten separate recipes. Each trainer has widely differing (and frequently strong!) opinions on which ingredients are most important for their athletes. But most US trainers will agree that the basic components of a good diet are a high quality kibble and meat. There has been much [...]
The long hoped for news has come- Kennel Week starts today! I fly out of bed when the alarm sounds, run downstairs to jumpstart the neurotransmitters with a cup (vat) of coffee, and dive into a pair of dungarees and a hooded sweatshirt. Note to the fashion-conscious: hooded sweatshirts are your friend at the track… [...]
In order to work even as a kennel helper at a greyhound track occupational licensure is required by state law. Leadouts (those that walk the dogs to the starting box and retrieve them at the end of the race) , assistant trainers (kennel help), trainers, and owners of racing dogs must be licensed and issued [...]
